Stocks try to steady themselves

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<p>NEW YORK – Wall Street plunged at the opening of trading Tuesday, propelling the Dow Jones industrials down about 300 points after an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to assuage investors fearing a recession in the U.S.

NEW YORK — Wall Street struggled to steady itself today, climbing back from an early plunge after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to restore stability to a faltering U.S. economy. The Dow Jones industrials, down 465 points at the start of the session, recovered to a loss of about 151 points.

The U.S. markets had joined a global selloff amid growing fears that a U.S. recession could send economies around the world into a downturn. Though stocks recovered much of the ground they lost as investors digested the Fed’s move to cut the key interest rate by 0.75 percentage point and as bargain-hunters entered the market, trading remained volatile.

“Sometimes market bottoms are not made by specific events, but by exhaustion,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak. He said that for the market to truly gain a foothold, investors need to see strong earnings reports and economic data in the coming weeks.

“If that doesn’t happen, then all this is a short-term bottom before a resumption of selling,” Boockvar said.